Why does the (semi) government still opt for digital dependency?
The shock of a vacancy Sometimes you read something that makes you laugh awkwardly. A vacancy at a large hospital, for example, where it is fun to look for a BI developer who helps...
Water Board Vechtstroom learns nothing from Hardenberg
Our local authorities as digital satellite statesThe Water Board Vechtstroom does exactly the same as the municipality of Hardenberg: transfer our local government systems and data to a foreign power. It's like being consciously...
The hostage-taking of our education: Microsoft as an invisible schoolmaster
Anyone who walks around in a classroom today does not immediately see it, but feels it. Everywhere you look, Microsoft is in the works. Windows on...
Europe in digital chains: From naive control to shameless betrayal
Where the hell do I start? There's so much happening at the same time that I don't really know where to start. The European dream of freedom and transparency is about to collapse. While civilians...
How America turns Europe into a horny place with digital thumbscrews
The mask of European pride We like to walk around in Brussels and The Hague with our breasts ahead: “digital sovereignty, autonomy, independence.” Nice words for a conference, but in reality...
Digital Sovereignty is a Lie We'd Like to Keep Believing in
⁇ Everyone wants it, nobody dares to do it Digital autonomy. Every policy paper, party program and strategic government document talks about it. Ministers call it in interviews. Members of Parliament ask questions about it....
I always thought it was abstract – until I saw what we really lost
The awareness suddenly came. And I'm still sick of it. I was working on something technical. A currency analysis. An invoice in USD, a few exchange rate differences. Routine. Until I...
Big Tech and the new feudalism: we are declared digitally obsolete
⁇ Secret infrastructures, open wounds On August 6, NRC published an article that reads like a dystopian paragraph from 1984: Israel turns out to be systematically listening to Palestinian phone calls and beating...
Dodging Big Tech for 30 euros per month: That's how I built my own cloud empire.
Hills and valleys: I'll take you on my adventure to switch from Big Tech software to more reliable, European or open-source alternatives. I...
Wetransfer, Washington and We: Why Digital Sovereignty Is No Longer a Hobby Project
Sovereignty starts with discomfort I had promised myself (and my wife) not to write business blogs during my vacation. Still, I'm here. In the French sun, with a glass...
A new triangle to think about...
Hills and valleys: I'll take you on my adventure to switch from Big Tech software to more reliable, European or open-source alternatives. I...
Building Europe Itself: From Key Figures to Key People
⁇ The urgency of today: Building Digital Sovereignty Thursday, June 5th, my alarm went off at 2:30. After only two hours of sleep, I got up, packed my suitcase, drank a...
Between storm and silence: Why I'm Hopeful Today
A particularly difficult season Sometimes it is as if life is piling up for a while. In recent months, my family and I have been confronted with no less than five personal dramas in...
A European façade on American foundations
New commitments, old dependencies On 30 April, Microsoft published a comprehensive statement entitled ‘Our European Cloud Principles and Commitments’ (source: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/04/30/european-digital-commitments/). In it, the company promises, among other things, data centers...
⁇ Time for Action: Europe, now or never
An ethical digital future begins today The letter from seven Dutch technology companies to the House of Representatives, shared via post on LinkedIN, is no ordinary lobby letter. It's a manifesto. Sendent,...
Data transmission under pressure: Will 2025 be the year of digital separation?
Alarm from Berlin Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently warned of the shaky state of transatlantic data traffic. In an interview with the Handelsblatt, she insists...
The future is open: Why Data-Pro is leaving for Munich and Berlin
⁇ The future is open: why Data-Pro BV leaves for Munich and Berlin A different wind blows through Europe. At a time when AI and geopolitics are transforming our digital world...
Data on the fence – how Europe is losing its digital wool
⁇ Our data, their business model Imagine a field. On the right: Europe, where exhausted citizens in frayed clothes try in vain to stop a flow of sheep. To the...
Digital Sovereignty: It's time to reclaim our data.
A dead deal: The recent analysis of Simple Analytics leaves no doubt: The latest EU-US data agreement is seriously faltering. Under the guise of privacy protection...
Playing with the future of European software
A playground for digital sovereignty Imagine a digital environment in which you are in control of your own data. No ads, no hidden trackers, no dependence on American...
Free, open and unfiltered: Why you should download this Nextcloud PDF now
Hills and valleys: my Journey away from Big Tech I take you on my adventure to switch from Big Tech software to more reliable, European or open-source alternatives...
A little self-deprecating
⁇ From Digital Detox to Data Dizziness "Are you busy or are you just pretending?" someone asked me the other day as I sighed and held my coffee and at the same time a whiteboard, laptop, phone...
Why?
Why some data initiatives do succeed Data and IT changes rarely fail due to technical limitations. The real pitfalls are confusion, resistance, lack of direction or simply...
The Keyword Parade
CTRL+F and the Devaluation of a Life Course What if your entire career is ultimately reduced to a keyword bingo? That you're not judged by who you are or...
Not my job. My conviction
The comeback of Linux, on-premise and principles "It starts with one command. Then two. Then it becomes a movement." Sometimes you see something popping up that you are not going to do yourself,...
Dutch Governments Embrace Nextcloud
Dutch Governments Embrace Nextcloud: A Step Towards Digital Sovereignty The increasing move from Dutch governments to Nextcloud is a promising development that paves the way for enhanced digital independence and...
Morally bankrupt
Once upon a time, the United States was the land of promise, bravado, and Bruce Springsteen. A place that we as Europeans watched with awe – the country where...
Fun in Hengelo
Today my day started in the studio of Mireille Droste, a great photographer with a keen eye for detail. At my side was Marlene,...
From Microsoft 365 to Nextcloud: A Look Back at My Stumbling Journey to Freedom
Hills and valleys: my Journey away from Big Tech I take you on my adventure to switch from Big Tech software to more reliable, European or open-source alternatives...
Call: SMEs from M365 to Nextcloud – who can help?
⁇ Immediately I offer my services for companies that want to make the switch! ⁇ What motivates me is the desire to actively contribute to a Europe...
My trip to Nextcloud: A new direction in times of change
The famous dot on the horizon has been found! In a world that is changing rapidly, I have decided to take a new course. My moral compass and practical considerations...
Markdown has changed my way of writing
Markdown has completely changed my way of writing and thinking about text formatting. It forces me to think simply and directly about the content and structure of my texts....
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